Paul Walker: 7 Movies for Remembering the Actor

Paul Walker died in a car accident on November 30. Walker, born September 12, 1973, in Glendale, California, was 40 years old. He is best remembered for the Fast and Furious film series, in which he played Brian O’Conner. Walker was involved in charitable works and was a founder of Reach Out WorldWide, a network of professional first responders who volunteer following natural disasters. He was attending an event for the charity when he was the passenger in a car accident that took both his life and the driver’s.

In addition to his Fast and Furious stint, Walker has been credited with more than 40 acting roles and three producer roles. He was also working on several movies at the time of his death: Fast & Furious 7 and Brick Mansions are both listed as in post-production on IMDB. The following are seven movies Walker has appeared in other than Fast and Furious, in order of release date.

1. Pleasantville (1998)

Walker played Skip Martin in Pleasantville. Martin was Reese Witherspoon’s character’s love interest after she and her brother were transported from the 1990s to a 1950s television show. In addition to Witherspoon and Walker, Tobey Maguire, William H. Macy, and Jeff Daniels starred in the film, as well.

2. Varsity Blues (1999)

Lance Harbor (Walker) was his high school football team’s star player, but when he suffered an injury, John Moxon (James Van Der Beek) stepped in as the starting quarterback. An Entertainment Weeklyreview said Walker “gets at the essence of every teenage jock who suddenly realizes he’s been living a fantasy.”

3. Joy Ride (2001)

Three young adults, including Walker’s Lewis Thomas, are traveling across the country when they begin talking to a trucker over a CB radio. The trucker turns out to be psychotic and says he will follow them until they are dead.

Roger Ebert said the film it was a “first-rate pure thriller, an exercise that depends on believable characters and the director’s skill in putting the pieces together.”

4. Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

Directed by Clint Eastwood, this movie tells the story of two men during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. Walker plays Sgt. Hank Hansen. The real Hansen was one of soldiers photographed in the iconic image of men raising the American flag after the battle ended.

The film earned Eastwood a Golden Globe nomination for best director and two Oscar nominations, for sound mixing and sound editing.

5. Running Scared (2006)

As Joey Gazelle, Walker was a low-level gangster. Needing to dispatch a gun used in a shooting, he hides it in a wall where his 10-year-old son finds the weapon, uses it, and flees. Gazelle subsequently needs to find his son before other mobsters or authorities catch up with the boy.

Actor Thomas Jane was actually the first choice for Walker’s role, but he had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts.

6. Eight Below (2006)

Jerry Shepard (Walker) is a sled dog trainer forced to abandon his dogs at a polar base during an Antarctic mission when a winter storm hits. The mission is called off, and Shepard searches for months to find a way to save the abandoned animals.

The movie is based on a 1958 Japanese expedition to the South Pole. It won two ASCAP Awards.

7. Hours (2013)

Scheduled for release on December 13, Walker’s role is that of Nolan, a single father trying to keep his infant child alive in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.